Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth engaged

Big day for PEOPLE Magazine. And they certainly needed the win considering that Us Weekly was owning their asses for the first half of the year. PEOPLE is high on a double exclusive today though, following up their Jessica Simpson baby unveil issue last week with Drew Barrymore’s wedding and the first to report, with confirmation, that Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are engaged.

Miley is 19 now. Liam is 22. He proposed on Thursday.

I don’t doubt that they are very, very much in love. And there’s no love like young love. No love as intense and, often, as deceiving. It really does feel like it will be forever, doesn’t it?

Why do celebrities marry so young? Well I suppose the reason civilians are urged NOT to marry so young is because there’s so much to do. Most can’t afford a home on their own at 19. Most don’t have savings. Most haven’t started to put away for retirement. Most haven’t finished school. Most don’t have careers.

Those arguments obviously don’t apply to young celebrities who have all those tangible concerns taken care of. As for the concerns that relate to maturity and emotion...

You can’t argue with a young person in love, famous or not famous.
They won’t listen.
They’re even less open to urging when they’re financially independent.
There’s nothing you can do.

Let that be another argument against child stardom: not only does it f-ck them up in ways we’ve already discussed many times, it also makes them financially independent. You can’t tell your kid what to do anymore when they can pay for whatever it is that they want to do.

Which is not to say that this isn’t a happy occasion. Of course it is. This is a love match. It’s love in youth, all consuming love, love in its purest form. Anything in its purest form is the most potent and, sometimes, the most toxic and desperate. Desperate against change. Because at that age, there’s nothing quite as frightening as the fragility of love. You don’t know how to hold it in its place. You just want it to stay the same. You can’t imagine that it might be ok if it moves.

Over the last year, Miley has watched her career stagnate and Liam’s rise. He has had to travel, spend long stretches away, and deal with a new level of fame that, while in no way approached hers, at the height of her celebrity, still had to have affected them on some level.

So what is this now? This proposal?

Well, it is indeed a vow. It’s a vow to hold on to it, so tight, no matter what happens around them. It’s a pact to protect their love no matter the movie, the role, the co-star. It’s a promise never to leave the other person behind. It’s the vow built on love as the only answer and stronger than all...

Which...

Is incredibly sweet. I am sad for it, by weary experience, but it’s so, so, SO sweet.